Remember my last post, where I showed you my WIPs?
Yeah, I didn’t work on them at all last weekend :P But we all know how it goes: we order yarn for future projects, and then it comes in, and it looks so yummy you just HAVE to make something with it RIGHT AWAY – please tell me I’m not the only one who can never resist the temptation! ;)
I was surfing the web and came across something called ‘overlay crochet'; have you ever heard of it? Some examples:
image c/o danielasneedleart – click image to go to blog
image c/o crochetbug – click image to go to blog
Daniela from danielasneedleart wrote a post about overlay crochet here: http://danielasneedleart.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/overlay-crochet/
In her blog post she mentions CaroCreated Designs, on Etsy, who sells overlay crochet patterns.
image c/o carocreated designs, click on image to go to etsy listing
Gorgeous, right? :) So I went ahead and ordered the pattern, and a couple of hours later it was in my inbox and I was overlay-crochet’ing away! :)
Here’s the result! Tadah! :) :) :)
Gorgeous, right? ♥ I had so much fun using this new-to-me technique. Overlay crochet is based on single crochet rows, in which you crochet into the backloops only, thus creating an ’empty’ front loop to work in the next rounds. It looks complicated when you first see the pattern, but after a few rounds it all makes sense and you really start to get the hang of it! I thought this mandala was going to take forever to make, but in the end I only spent a couple of hours working on it, so it can be easily made in an afternoon or two. It is for the more experienced crocheter though. I would not recommend this for a beginner.
Because it was so big and because I wanted to hang it on my wall, I hand sewed this mandala to a piece of felt for stability.
And I made another little, non-overlay mandala, using this cute pattern from Barbara over at Made in K-town: http://made-in-k-town.blogspot.de/2012/05/little-spring-mandala.html
This one is much smaller than the overlay crochet mandala, but as a result of that also a lot quicker to make! :) I made this one in about an hour. You can vary endlessly with this pattern; just changing the colors will change the look of it so much, that it will look like a completely different mandala :)
And here they are hanging on my wall, keeping my guitars company. I plan on making a lot more circular mandalas/potholders to decorate this wall with. It will be totally groovy ♥
What did you make this weekend?
xo,
wink

July 9, 2012 at 7:06 pm
LOVE!!! I’ve seen those Etsy patterns but have been too chicken to try it! Yours is beautiful!! Love the colors, and love the smaller mandala too! They look great on the wall! (And you aren’t the only one who can’t resist making something right away with new yarn!!)
July 9, 2012 at 7:50 pm
Thanks Kate! :) You should make one yourself – it’s very rewarding :)
July 9, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog, I’d not noticed your name on there before so thought I’d pop over and see what your ‘vice’ was! Love the overlay crochet, may just have a go at that one day – better master ‘proper’ crochet first though Lol. Look forward to reading more of your posts :)
July 9, 2012 at 9:17 pm
You’re welcome! And thanks for popping by – much appreciated :)
July 9, 2012 at 11:35 pm
These are amazing .. Ilove anything like this.. the colours and the textures are great.. sending you much mandala happiness x
July 10, 2012 at 5:23 am
They both came out beautiful!
July 10, 2012 at 3:07 pm
It’s very pretty – and different. I’ve been crocheting a long time now and have not tried this technique. Maybe one day. :)
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July 18, 2012 at 6:35 am
I just saw overlay on danielasneedleart’s blog which first got me interested in this. Love how yours came out. Waiting for Christmas to get some yarn so I can work a mandala for my wall.
July 20, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Wow, they look beautiful, would love to give one a go. And the smaller one is a nice quick fix!
July 30, 2012 at 2:28 pm
these are beautiful! so is your blog!
August 2, 2012 at 1:31 pm
I LOVE this!!! I just saw this on Pinterest this morning…I’ve got to get that pattern :) Thanks for a wonderful blog post!
August 7, 2012 at 10:09 am
These are really beautiful! Thanks for sharing, I will try them today.
August 7, 2012 at 11:28 am
Awesome! Be sure to share the results! :) Thanks for visiting.
xo,
wink
August 7, 2012 at 6:24 pm
do you sell these?
August 7, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Hi Brenda,
Yes I do! :) I just sent you an e-mail with more information. Thanks for visiting!
xo,
wink
September 3, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Absolutely gorgeous! I’d like to try do it myself.